10 Tips for Troubleshooting Your PC

Troubleshooting a computer can be a little frustrating and a little daunting. With so many parts and software installed, so many things can go wrong. The more you do it, the better, and your confidence grows when troubleshooting a computer always starts with simple things. This article will cover various basic problems and their fixes while working on the computer.

What to do when there is a bunch of icons on the computer desktop?

You don’t need every program that came with your PC, especially if you bought it from a big box store. If you have three eBook readers on your PC. Uninstall the two you don’t need. Similarly, remove video streaming services you don’t use and games you don’t play. At a minimum, these programs are taking up space on your hard drive; Looking for updates at least they will slow down your system.

The display driver stopped responding.

Your Windows system’s graphics drivers are either corrupted or some programs are not quite compatible with the driver that you are using now. The rectification is to update your display driver. Just go into Window’s Update and look for the graphics driver, under Optional Hardware Updates. go ahead and update your driver. 

A program takes forever to load, or it crashes as soon as you do.

For the program you use, check to see if there are updates. These are found in the Help section of the program, or if you got this program from the Windows or Mac App Store, look there for updates. Updated software is more likely to fix bugs, bugs that may have slowed down your PC or Mac with memory leaks, or a disability that has surfaced since a previous update. 

Takes more time to get on the internet.

Every time you add an extension or tool to it on Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, or Opera (web browser). If you’ve been using a computer for more than a few months, you probably have a collection of extensions and toolbars, you don’t need more than one search toolbar. If you like the interface of a particular service, choose one and uninstall the rest. The same is the case with plugins and browser games: they are loaded every time you start the browser. Uninstall additional extensions that you no longer use. The best part is that the system won’t load all the extra extensions, and your browsing sessions will start just as fast.

Double-clicking on a file does not open the program.

Anyone who shares a PC will find that other family members have programs installed for themselves. Although many of these programs are harmless, they can handle the tasks of a program you’re more familiar with than simple programs like the Office suite, PDF reader, and other graphics programs that come to mind. On a Windows PC, right-click the file you’re opening, then choose Open With, then “Choose Default Program.” Once you’ve selected your default program, each time you double-click on that type of file, the program you prefer will open. If you want to be even more efficient, uninstall a program downloaded by a family member so that it doesn’t interfere in the future. For the program you use, check to see if there are updates. These will either be found in the Help section of the program or if it’s a program you got from the Windows or Mac App Store, look there for updates. Updated software is likely to contain bug fixes, bugs that may have slowed down your PC or Mac with a memory leak, or a disability that came to light after a previous update.

Getting a blank screen or nothing shows up on your screen

Check your display cables (both laptop and desktop). The cables themselves can work loose. Check both the connector on the computer and the connection on the display. If you have multiple monitors, check the connections on each display. Infrequently if one comes loose, the others only show part of the Windows or Mac interface. For laptops, check to make sure the display is set to output to the correct display(Check the icon on your keyboard, but on some laptops press Fn+F7 to cycle through the settings).

Viruses/Spyware

Viruses and spyware can not only slow down your computer, but they can also make it unusable. In addition, some types of viruses and spyware can pass on your personal information to attackers. You should always have antivirus running in your system.

Google doesn’t seem right

Browser hijackers are a particularly bad breed of malware. Such programs take over your web browser and may secretly redirect your Google searches and drivers, among other queries, to fake pages with the intention of stealing your personal information or infecting your system further.

The best way to stay safe is to run a real-time antivirus utility. If your browser has already been hijacked, uninstall the browser and use your antivirus program along with Malwarebytes Bytes to remove the intruder.

When your system doesn’t turn on

First, check the power plug, and then check the power button. Checking to see if power is plugged in is a no-brainer, but sometimes you have to check anyway. Also, the power button could be soiled with dry soda, worn out, or just plain faulty. It may need repair. On laptops, the power connectors may be worn or too loose to use. In this case, you may have to buy a new power supply.

Computer keeps restarting

Hardware problems are hard to diagnose and fix. So, first, confirm that you’re not installing the latest Windows updates, which may lead your computer to restart automatically during the installation process. Then, work on updating all your system drivers. Your motherboard, graphics card, and network card drivers. Now and then it can be a virus, sometimes it can be adware, sometimes it can overheat, and sometimes it can be as simple as making sure to update your video card.

Modern computers have safeguards that shut down the system when a component overheats, which may cause frequent restarts when you run resource-intensive programs or video games.